Egyptian president retires top generals

Aug. 13 - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi defends his decision to order the retirement of top generals and cancel a military order that had curbed his powers. Sarah Charlton reports.

▲ Hide Transcript

▶ View Transcript

Egypt's newly elected president has ordered changes to the military's top brass.
In a surprise move, President Mohamed Mursi dismissed Cairo's two top generals. He also cancelled a military order curbing his powers.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and military chief of staff Sami Enan have now been replaced.
While the decision met a mixed response, Mursi defended his actions.
He insisted the decision was not meant to "target certain individuals" or "embarrass institutions".
The move was for the benefit of the nation, he said.
In Tahrir square thousands of supporters gathered to back the decision.
Critics said the generals had cast a shadow over Egypt's new democracy.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: